Climbing: Tragedy on the West Face of Makalu. Chronicle of events according to the Japanese expedition

Climbing participants

Commercial Expedition "Mountain Madness"

For the necessary acclimatization in the mountains, the members of the "Mountain Madness" expedition had to fly from Los Angeles on March 23 to Kathmandu, and on March 28 fly to Lukla (2850 m). On April 8, the whole group was already in the Base Camp. To everyone's surprise, the group's guide, Neil Biddleman, developed a so-called "altitude cough". After Bidleman, other members of the expedition began to have health problems. Nevertheless, everyone carefully observed the "acclimatization schedule". However, as it turned out later, Scott Fisher was in bad shape. physical form and took 125 mg of Diamox (Acetazolamide) daily.

Adventure Consultants Commercial Expedition

Chronology of events

belated rise

Making the ascent without the use of oxygen, Anatoly Bukreev reached the summit first, at about 13:07. A few minutes later, Jon Krakauer appeared at the top. Some time later, Harris and Biddleman. Many of the remaining climbers did not reach the summit until 2:00 pm, the critical time to begin their descent to safely return to Camp IV and spend the night.

Anatoly Bukreev started descending to Camp IV only at 14:30. By that time, Martin Adams and Clive Schoening had reached the summit, while Bidleman and the other members of the Mountain Madness expedition had not yet reached the summit. Soon, according to the observations of climbers, the weather began to deteriorate, at about 15:00 it began to snow and it got dark. Makalu Go reached the summit at the beginning of 16:00 and immediately noted the worsening weather conditions.

The senior Sherpa in Hall's group, Ang Dorje, and the other Sherpas stayed to wait for the rest of the climbers at the summit. After about 15:00 they began their descent. On the way down, Ang Dorje spotted one of the clients, Doug Hansen, in the Hillary Step area. Dorje ordered him to descend, but Hansen did not answer him. When Hall arrived at the scene, he sent the Sherpas downstairs to help other clients, while he stayed behind to help Hansen, who had run out of supplemental oxygen.

Scott Fisher did not reach the summit until 3:45 pm, in poor physical condition, possibly due to altitude sickness, pulmonary edema, and exhaustion from fatigue. When Rob Hall and Doug Hansen reached the summit is unknown.

Descent during a storm

According to Bukreev, he reached Camp IV by 17:00. Anatoly was heavily criticized for his decision to descend before his clients. Krakauer accused Bukreev of being "confused, unable to assess the situation, showing irresponsibility". He responded to the accusations by saying that he was going to help descending clients with a further descent, preparing additional oxygen, a hot drink. Critics also claimed that, according to Boukreev himself, he descended with client Martin Adams, however, as it turned out later, Boukreev himself descended faster and left Adams far behind.

The bad weather made it difficult for the expedition members to descend. By this time, due to a snowstorm on the southwestern slope of Everest, visibility had deteriorated significantly, and the marks that had been set during the ascent and indicated the path to Camp IV disappeared under the snow.

Fisher, who was assisted by Sherpa Lopsang Jangbu, could not descend in a snowstorm from the Balcony (at around 8230 m). As Goh later said, his Sherpas were left at an altitude of 8230 m, along with Fischer and Lopsang, who also could no longer descend. In the end, Fischer convinced Lopsang to go down alone, and leave him and Goh.

Hall radioed for help, saying that Hansen was unconscious but still alive. Adventure Consultants guide Andy Harris began the ascent to Hillary's Step at approximately 5:30 pm, carrying a supply of water and oxygen.

Several climbers got lost in the area of ​​the South Col. Mountain Madness members Guide Biddleman, Schoening, Fox, Madsen, Pittman, and Gammelgard, along with Adventure Consultants guide Groom, Beck Withers, and Yasuko Namba, wandered in the blizzard until midnight. When they could no longer continue their journey due to fatigue, they huddled together only 20 meters from the abyss at the Kanshung wall (Eng. Kangshung face). Pittman soon developed symptoms of altitude sickness. Fox injected her with dexamethasone.

Around midnight, the storm subsided, and the climbers were able to see Camp IV, which was 200 m away. Beadleman, Groom, Schoening and Gammelgard went for help. Madsen and Fox stayed with the group and called for help. Boukreev discovered the climbers and was able to get Pittman, Fox and Madsen out. He was also criticized by other climbers because he preferred his clients Pittman, Fox and Madsen, while it was claimed that Namba was already in a dying state. Withers Bukreev did not notice at all. In total, Bukreev made two walks to bring these three climbers to safety. As a result, neither he nor the other participants who were in Camp IV had the strength left to go after Namba.

However, later that day, Withers came to his senses and made it to the camp alone, which surprised everyone in the camp, as he suffered from hypothermia and severe frostbite. Withers was given oxygen, they tried to warm him up, arranging him to spend the night in a tent. Despite all this, Withers had to face the elements again when a gust of wind blew away his tent at night and he had to spend the night in the cold. And again he was mistaken for dead, but Krakauer found that Withers was conscious and on May 12 he was prepared for urgent evacuation from Camp IV. Over the next two days, Withers was lowered to Camp II, part of the way, however, he made his own, and later he was evacuated by a rescue helicopter. Withers underwent a long course of treatment, but due to severe frostbite, his nose was amputated, right hand and all fingers of the left hand. In total, he underwent more than 15 operations, he was reconstructed from the back muscles thumb, and plastic surgeons restored the nose.

Scott Fisher and Makalu Go were discovered on May 11 by Sherpas. Fisher's condition was so severe that they had no choice but to make him comfortable, and throw the main forces to save Go. Anatoly Boukreev made another attempt to save Fischer, but only discovered his frozen body at about 19:00.

North face of Everest

Indo-Tibetan Border Guard

Less well-known, but no less tragic, were 3 more accidents that happened on the same day with climbers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Guard who climbed the North Slope. The expedition was led by Lieutenant Colonel Mohinder Singh. Commandant Mohinder Singh, who is considered the first Indian climber to conquer Mount Everest from the North Face.

Initially, the indifference of the Japanese climbers stunned the Indians. According to the leader of the Indian expedition, “At first the Japanese offered to help in the search for the missing Indians. But a few hours later, they continued their ascent to the summit, despite the bad weather. The Japanese team continued climbing until 11:45. By the time the Japanese climbers began their descent, one of the two Indians was already dead, and the other was on the verge of life and death. They lost sight of the tracks of the third descending climber. However, Japanese climbers denied ever seeing dying climbers on the climb.

Captain Kolya, representative of the Indian Mountaineering Federation (Eng. Indian Mountaineering Federation ), who at first blamed the Japanese, later retracted his claim that the Japanese claimed to have met Indian climbers on 10 May.

"The Indian-Tibetan Border Guard (ITPS) confirms the statement of the members of the Fukuoka expedition that they did not leave the Indian climbers without the help and did not refuse to help in the search for the missing". The managing director of ITPS stated that "the misunderstanding was due to communication interference between the Indian climbers and their base camp."

Shortly after the incident, the twisted and frozen body of Tsewang Poljor was discovered near a small limestone cave at an altitude of 8500 m. Due to technical difficulties in evacuating the bodies of the dead, the corpse of the Indian climber still lies where it was first discovered. Climbers climbing the North Face can see the outline of a body and the bright green boots the climber was wearing. The term "Green Shoes" green boots ) soon firmly entered the lexicon of the conquerors of Everest. This is how the mark of 8500 m is indicated along the North slope of Everest.

I was lucky to survive the storm of 1996 and lucky to live on. The Indian climber was out of luck. And it could have been otherwise. If this happened, I would like a fellow climber to work hard get my body out of sight of other climbers, and shield me from birds... original text(English) "I survived the big storm of 1996 and was fortunate enough to be able to get on with the rest of my life," the British climber told TNN. "The Indian climber was not. The roles could have been so easily reversed. If that had happened I would like to think that a fellow climber would take it upon themselves to move me away from the sight of passing climbers and to protect me from the birds."

Tragedy victims

Name	Citizenship	Expedition	A place of death	Cause of death
Doug Hansen (Client)	USA	adventure consultants	south slope
Andrew Harris (Guide)	New Zealand		southeast ridge, 8800 m	Unknown; presumably a fall on the descent
Yasuko Nambo (Client)	Japan		South Col	External influences (hypothermia, radiation, frostbite)
Rob Hall (Guide)	New Zealand		south slope
Scott Fisher (Guide)	USA	Mountain Madness	southeast ridge
Sergeant Tsewang Samanla		Indian-Tibetan Border Guard	northeast ridge
Corporal Dorje Morup
Senior Constable Tsewang Paljor

Event Analysis

Commercialization of Everest

The first commercial expeditions to Everest began to be organized in the early 1990s. Guides appear, ready to fulfill any dream of the client. They take care of everything: transportation of participants to the base camp, organization of the path and intermediate camps, escort of the client and his safety net all the way up and down. At the same time, the conquest of the summit was not guaranteed. In the pursuit of profit, some guides take clients who are not able to climb to the top at all. In particular, Henry Todd from the Himalayan Guides company argued that, "... without blinking an eye, these leaders appropriate a lot of money for themselves, knowing full well that their wards have no chance." Neil Biddleman, the guide of the Mountain Madness group, confessed to Anatoly Bukreev even before the start of the ascent that “...half of the clients have no chance of reaching the summit; for most of them, the ascent will end already on the South Saddle (7900 m) ” .

The famous New Zealand climber Edmund Hillary was extremely negative about commercial expeditions. In his opinion, the commercialization of Everest "offended the dignity of the mountains."

• American climber and writer Galen Rovell, in an article for the Wall Street Journal, called the operation carried out by Boukreev to rescue three climbers "unique":

On December 6, 1997, the American Alpine Club awarded Anatoly Boukreev the David Souls Prize, given to climbers who saved people in the mountains at the risk of their own lives.

Literature

• Jon Krakauer In rarefied air = Into thin air. - M: Sofia, 2004. - 320 p. - 5000 copies. - ISBN 5-9550-0457-2
• Bukreev A.N., G. Weston De Walt Climbing. Tragic ambitions on Everest = The Climb: Tragic ambitions on Everest. - M: MTsNMO, 2002. - 376 p. - 3000 copies. - ISBN 5-94057-039-9
• David Breashears"High Exposure, Epilogue". - Simon & Schuster, 1999.
• Nick Heil"Dark Summit: The True Story of Everest"s Most Controversial Season". - Holt Paperbacks, 2007. - ISBN 978-0805089912- Nick Hale's book is dedicated to another tragically famous season on Everest, 2006

Makalu (Chinese 马卡鲁山, Mǎkǎlǔ Shān - "Black Giant") (8485 m) is the fifth highest eight-thousander in the world. Located in the eastern part of the Mahalangur Himal range, in the central Himalayas, on the border of Nepal with China (Tibet Autonomous Region), 22 km southeast of Everest.

It is one of the most difficult eight-thousanders to climb, less than 30% of expeditions achieve success.

Despite the fact that Mount Makalu has been well known to Europeans since the second half of the 19th century, the first attempts to climb only date back to the mid-1950s. This fact is largely due to the fact that the vast majority of expeditions visiting the mountainous region of Mahalangur Himal, in which the eight-thousanders of Chomolungma, Lhotse and Makalu are located, had as their goal the conquest of the highest peak in the world, while its less eminent neighbors were "in the shade" for a long time and until a certain time, they did not attract wide attention of the world mountaineering community.

The massif consists of 2 peaks exceeding 8 km in height:

From Everest and Lhotse, the northwestern peak of Kangchungze (7678 m), also known as Makalu II, is also clearly visible.

Timeline of ascents to Mount Makalu

To date (2015), 17 different routes have been laid to the top of Makalu:

1954 - In the spring, an American expedition from the California Mountain Club makes the first attempt to summit the Southeast Ridge. A height of 7060 m was reached. In the autumn of the same year, a group of French climbers visit the Makalu region, whose goal is to explore the northern slopes of the mountain in order to organize a serious expedition next year. The height of 7880 m was reached on the Northern ridge.

1955 - In the spring, a strong French expedition led by Jean Franco succeeds by summiting the northern route explored in the previous autumn. On May 15-17, a total of 9 people climb to the top in three groups - all members of the expedition and the sirdar (leader of the Sherpa group).

1970 - A Japanese expedition makes a second ascent of Makalu by climbing the Southeast Ridge over the Southeast Summit (following the route of the 1954 American expedition).

1971 - A French expedition led by R. Parago climbs to the top along a technically very difficult route - the Western Ridge. The ascent took place in extremely adverse weather conditions.

1975 - The Yugoslav expedition in the fall lays a new route to the top, climbing up the previously untraveled south wall. One of the climbers of the expedition: Marjan Manfreda (Marjan Manfreda) for the first time climbed to the top without the use of oxygen tanks.

1976 - Czechoslovakian expedition climbs the Southwest Ridge over the Southeast Summit.

1986 - Reinhold Messner reaches the summit of Makalu.

1997 - Russian expedition reaches the summit for the first time on the Western Face. This is technically the most difficult of all the routes currently laid to the top of Makalu.

Members:

• team captain - Salavat Khabibullin (died near the summit),
• Igor Bugachevsky (died on the descent),
• Alexey Bolotov,
• Nikolay Zhilin,
• Yuri Ermachek,
• Dmitry Pavlenko,
• expedition leader - Sergey Efimov,
• coach - Alexander Mikhailov.

The ascent was recognized as the best climbing ascent of the year and was awarded the Golden Ice Ax international award.

2001 - Southeast Ridge, pioneer Ukrainian Terzyul, Vladislav Aleksandrovich; in 2004 he died while descending from Makalu.

2009 - February 9 Simone Moro (Italy) and Denis Urubko (Kazakhstan) conquer Makala for the first time in winter. This is the last of the nine Himalayan eight-thousanders, passed in the winter.

2010 - On May 24, three climbers, members of the mountaineering club of the city of Sumy (Ukraine), Sergey Bublik, Vladimir Rosko and Dmitry Venslavovsky, as part of the national expedition "Ukraine-Makalu 2010" climbed Makalu. Their journey to the top took almost 2 months; the expedition arrived in Nepal on March 28, 2010. The ascent of the Sumchans to Makalu is the first ascent, since no one has ever climbed this mountain along the South-Western Ridge.

2014 - On May 25, 16-year-old American Matthew Moniz became the world's youngest climber to summit Makalu.

March-May 1997

This ascent was awarded
"GOLDEN ICE AXE-1997"
for the best climb of the year in the world.

A few details about the death of the guys:

On May 21, at 6 o'clock in the morning, the guys reported on the radio station that they were going to storm the summit. I asked them how was the night and how are you feeling? Salavat was in touch and replied that it was normal, only he really wanted to sleep. The climbers spent the night by three people in two tents at a distance of 50 meters from each other at an altitude of 8150m. Salavat went to the top tent and found out if they were going to leave, then returned to his tent.

At 7 o'clock in the morning the first people began to leave the tents. Salavat was the first to get out, but then he returned to the tent and said that he would come out later, as his legs were cold and he wanted to rest a little more. The rest of the way was quite simple, so the climbers went out as soon as they were ready and moved up at their own pace. Alexei Bolotov then noted that when he reached 8350m. (rocky step of the summit ridge), he looked down and saw that Salavat had left the tent. The first to descend from the summit was Nikolai Zhilin. He then found Salavat dead, leaning against a stone in the pose of a resting person, who was climbing up, about 150 meters from the tent. He no longer had any signs of life. It was not possible to transport the body, given physical state climbers and altitude. Having contacted the base camp by radio, they decided to bury Salavat where he died. The guys lifted it two meters higher on a shelf, covered it with snow and laid stones. This took about 2.5 hours. Already in the dark they made their way to their tents.

In the morning next day climbers managed to pack up and leave the tents only at about 11 o'clock in the afternoon. Taking one tent with them, they moved down. We watched through binoculars their descent from the ABC and saw that one deuce was far behind. On the radio station, Bolotov said that Igor Bugachevsky fell on a rock during the descent and injured his rib. He began to move with difficulty. There was one oxygen bottle in the group and Igor was allowed to breathe, after which he went faster. On that day, May 22, the five descended to a height of 6650m. and got up for the night. Igor breathed oxygen all night and felt quite well in the morning.

On May 23, Nikolai Zhilin was the first to go down and by 4 pm he went down to the bergschrund, where he was met by A. Mikhailov and A. Belkov, who went up there the day before to help the guys go down. Kolya was sure, as he later said, that all the guys would go down to the bergschrund, but by that time Yura Ermachek and Igor had only reached a height of 7300 (Camp 5), while Pavlenko and Bolotov were even higher. At this moment, Yura Ermachek drops his backpack, which contained a sleeping bag, a puff, gas cylinders and some food. Then he decides not to stop at 7300m, but to try to go down to 6500m. to the bergschrund (two tents stood there, protected by a large snow cornice from rockfall and avalanches, there were food, they were waiting there). Yura went down to 6500 at 10 pm. Troika Bugachevsky - Bolotov - Pavlenko spent the night at 7300m.

On May 24, at 8 o'clock in the morning, they had already begun to move down. Pavlenko and Bugachevsky moved very slowly. When Bolotov descended to 6500m. Andrei Belkov began to climb up the wall to give Pavlenko and Bugachevsky hot tea to drink. Stones were coming from above and he decided to wait for the guys, hiding under the overhanging rocky cornices. Pavlenko had already descended into the bergschrund, but Igor remained in one place and did not move. Andrei then decided to go up to him and find out what happened. When Andrei reached Igor, he saw that he was hanging dead on the ropes. The left temporal part was pierced by a stone. Apparently, a stone hit him in the head when he was buckling with one fixed rope the other and did not look up. He was not wearing a helmet, although the guys claimed that he descended in a helmet. Stones continued to fall from above, and Andrei realized that he could stay there forever. All he managed to do was lower the body to the nearest rock ledge and secure the body with a rope. The warming of recent days has caused heavy rockfalls along the entire wall. Staying there became extremely dangerous. I had to go down.

American climber Scott Fisher, who was the first to conquer the fourth highest mountain in the world, Lhotse, founded the company "Mountain Madness" back in the 1980s, offering its clients climbing the highest mountains in the world. In the 1990s, Fisher's company began to offer tourists the conquest of the highest peak in the world - Everest.
Among the mountain guides who worked with Fischer was his friend, the Soviet climber Anatoly Bukreev.
A native of the Chelyabinsk region, Bukreev, in his youth, was carried away by the conquest of the mountains. In his student years, he changed the low mountains of the Urals to the "four-thousanders" of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
After graduating from the Chelyabinsk Pedagogical University, Bukreev, for whom mountaineering becomes a matter of life, moves closer to the mountains, settling in the "Mountain Gardener" state farm near Alma-Ata.
In 1987, 29-year-old Anatoly Bukreev makes a high-speed solo ascent of Lenin Peak and is one of the most promising young Soviet climbers.
In 1989, he successfully passed the selection for the Second Soviet Himalayan Expedition. On April 15, 1989, in the group of Valery Khrishchaty, Bukreev conquers his first eight-thousander - Kanchedzhanga Middle. A few days later, for the first time in the world, he makes a traverse of the four peaks of the eight-thousander Kanchenjunga in a group. After this expedition, Anatoly Bukreev was awarded the Order "For Personal Courage".
From 1989 to 1997, Boukreev will make 21 successful ascents of the eight-thousanders of the Himalayas, conquering 11 of the 14 mountains existing on the planet with a height of over 8000 meters. He will climb to the top of Everest three times.
After the collapse of the USSR, a native of the Urals takes the citizenship of Kazakhstan - not for political reasons, but all out of the same desire to be closer to the mountains.
His professional reputation is growing rapidly. In 1995, in Kazakhstan, there was a mass ascent to the peak of Abai with a height of 4010 meters. Among the participants of the ascent was the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. Boukreev became the personal guide of the head of state - only for the professional himself high level could trust the life of the president.
Anatoly Bukreev belonged to the elite club of the conquerors of the "eight-thousanders", who climbed without the use of oxygen cylinders.
Scott Fisher, inviting Boukreev to work at Mountain Madness, knew that this person could be relied upon.
Bukreev's only disadvantage was that he had a poor command of English language. However, this did not frighten Fischer - he believed that he could handle all the conversations perfectly himself.
Journey to the "roof of the world"
In addition to Fischer and Boukreev, the Mountain Madness expedition, which set off to conquer Everest in 1996, also included the less experienced high-altitude guide Neil Biddleman, a group of Sherpas who served as porters-guides, and eight clients aged 33 to 68 years.
Simultaneously with the "Mountain Madness", an expedition of the Adventure Consultants company, led by New Zealand climber Rob Hall, was preparing to conquer Everest. His group included two guides, Sherpas, and eight clients, including the American journalist Jon Krakauer, who was destined to play a rather unsightly role in this story.
In both groups, among the clients were those who had a fairly serious mountaineering training, and those whose experience was minimal.
On April 8, the Mountain Madness expedition arrived at the base camp at the foot of Everest. Many members of the group showed various ailments, including Fisher himself and guide Nick Biddleman. Nevertheless, preparations for the ascent continued.
"I don't like how things are going"
On April 13, members of the expedition set up the first high-altitude camp at an altitude of 6100 meters. Preparations for further advancement went on as usual, but on April 19, members of the expedition discovered the remains of a deceased climber on the mountainside. Experienced professionals are accustomed to such a spectacle, but the clients of the "Mountain Madness" were greatly embarrassed by this.
On April 26, multi-expedition leaders Scott Fisher (Mountain Madness), Rob Hall (Adventure Consultants), Todd Burleson (Alpine Climbing), Ian Woodall (Sunday Times Expeditions from Johannesburg) and Makalu Go ( Taiwan Expedition) - decided to join their climbing efforts and jointly fix the ropes from "Camp 3" to "Camp 4".
On the way to "Camp 3", "Mountain Madness" experienced the first loss in the composition. 45-year-old Dale Cruz, a friend of Scott Fisher who had no experience in high-altitude ascents, felt ill and was sent back. Cruz made another attempt to continue the ascent, but after another deterioration in health, he was finally sent down.
Fisher was alarmed - the preparation and well-being of his clients turned out to be worse than he expected, the movement from camp to camp took too much time. The date of the alleged assault on the summit had to be postponed several times.
To his colleague Henry Todd of the Himalayan Guides, Fisher, leading his group upstairs, said: “I am afraid for my people. I don't like the way things are going."

Climbing time cannot be changed
On May 9, Fischer and Boukreev took the clients to Camp 4, located at an altitude of about 7900 meters. The members of the Adventure Consultants expedition, as well as several other groups, also went there - the total number of people heading to the high-altitude camp reached 50 people.
In the area of ​​"Camp 4" they were met by bad weather. “It was truly a hellish place, if only it can be so cold in hell: an icy wind, the speed of which exceeded 100 km / h, raged on an open plateau, empty oxygen cylinders thrown here by members of previous expeditions lay everywhere,” Anatoly Bukreev later said.
This situation confused many members of the expedition, who wanted to postpone the ascent again. However, Scott Fisher and Rob Hall, after conferring, announced that the summit assault would begin on the morning of May 10th.
Shortly after midnight, groups of Adventure Consultants, Mountain Madness, and the Taiwan Expedition began their ascent to the summit.
According to the plan of the expedition leaders, the ascent to the summit was to take from 10 to 11 hours.
Deadly delay
On this day, more than three dozen people climbed to the top of Everest at once, which made the route too busy. In addition, the ropes on the route were not fixed in time, which took several extra hours from the climbers.
Around 6 am, the first climbers reached the so-called "Balcony" - a zone at an altitude of over 8500 meters, where, due to extreme cold and lack of sufficient oxygen, a person can only stay for a strictly limited time. At the same time, the chain of climbers was seriously stretched - those lagging behind were simply not ready for such loads.
In addition, it turned out that the rope railing leading to the southern summit of Everest (8748 meters) was not ready, and another hour was spent on fixing this problem.
There was only 100 meters left to the main peak of Everest, the weather was sunny and clear, but many of the climbers decide to turn back. So did Adventure Consultants clients Frank Fishbeck, Lou Kozicki, Stuart Hutchinson, and John Taske.
At 13:07, Anatoly Bukreev was the first to reach the main summit of Everest that day. A few minutes later, the journalist Jon Krakauer also went up there.
According to the strict rules of climbing Everest, the ascent must be stopped at 14:00, regardless of how far from the top the participants are. The later start of the descent makes it extremely unsafe.
In reality, members of both groups continued to climb to the top, which put them in a difficult position.
Lost in a snow storm
At 14:30 Anatoly Bukreev began the descent to Camp 4. An experienced climber understood that the return from the summit would be difficult for the climbers. In this situation, he decided to get to the camp, prepare additional oxygen tanks and go out to meet the descenders. Their experienced leaders remained in the groups, so that the clients were not left to their own devices.
By 15:00 the weather began to deteriorate, it began to snow. However, even in the coming darkness, exhausted people, in violation of all safety rules, continued to try to get to the top.
The last of those about whom there is reliable information, the head of Mountain Madness, Scott Fisher, climbed to the top. This happened at 15:45, almost two hours after the deadline for the return.
The road down to the returning participants of the ascent was blocked by a snow storm. The markers showing the way to the saving "Camp 4" were noticed.
Adventure Consultants leader Rob Hall remained in the so-called Hillary Steps (8,790 meters) where one of his clients, Doug Hansen, passed out. By radio, Hall contacted the camp, from where Andy Harris came to his aid.
One for all
More than a dozen participants of the ascent, having not reached Camp 4, wandered in a blizzard, no longer counting on salvation. They huddled together, hoping to wait out the bad weather. As it turned out later, only 20 meters from them was an abyss that they had not noticed, so the climbers were on the verge of death, literally and figuratively.
At this time, another drama was being played out at Camp 4. Anatoly Boukreev, moving from tent to tent, persuaded climbers to come out to help people in trouble. The answer was silence - no one wanted to go to certain death.
And then the Russian climber went alone with a supply of oxygen for the dying.
Over the next few hours, he managed to find and bring to "Camp 4" three completely exhausted, barely alive people - Charlotte Fox, Sandy Pittman and Tim Madsen.
A few more people from two groups managed to independently go to the camp when the snow storm subsided a bit.
Last call
Around five in the morning, Rob Hall got in touch with the camp. He reported that Harris, who came to their aid, got to them, but later disappeared. Doug Hansen is dead. Hall himself could not handle the icy oxygen tank regulator.
A few hours later Hall last time got in touch. Through the base camp, via satellite phone, he called his wife to say goodbye to her. Frostbitten hands and feet left him no chance of salvation. Shortly after this call, he died - his body was found 12 days later.

Himalayan addiction

“Do you know what farewell phrase I like the most? Not “Goodbye!” or dry as Sahara “Bye!”, but “Take care of yourself,” Maksut Zhumayev, the captain of the Kazakhstan mountaineering team, confesses. “Take care of yourself” - two words , but perhaps they will get a little warmer at an altitude where planes fly.

The height of the Himalayan peak Makalu is 8475 meters. A phrase from one of the semi-fantastic American films about mountaineering immediately comes to mind: "They don't die in the mountains. They just don't live there." Makalu is the fifth highest eight-thousander of the Earth. Six Kazakhs make the task of climbing more difficult for themselves: they will go up the mountain not along the classical route, but along the Western Ridge. This path to the summit was laid in 1971 by French climbers led by Robert Parago. A three-kilometer rocky ridge, open to all winds, goes into the sky. The spectacle, to put it mildly, is not for the faint of heart. Seven Kazakhstanis will see it with their own eyes: team coach, Everest climber Yervand Ilyinsky and expedition members Maksut Zhumaev, Vasily Pivtsov, Damir Molgachev, Sergey Brodsky, Alexander Rudakov and Artem Rychkov.

- Climbing is self-destruction, you go at critical speeds, - the climber shares his thoughts on seven eight-thousanders Maksut Zhumaev. - I think none of us knew what awaited him when he took his first steps in mountaineering. Now you just can't quit. Although... Although I do not rule out the possibility of leaving. It just needs to be done on time.

Maksut Zhumaev started climbing at a mature age, as he says, at the age of 20, after the army. His experience of "walking" is seven years. Seven years - seven conquered eight-thousanders. "Zhuma", as he is called in the team, bought a backpack for a hundred dollars and went on a trekking trip to Issyk-Kul, led by a well-known Kazakhstani climber, conqueror of six eight-thousanders Yuri Moiseev. In the campaign, Maksut was a porter for foreign clients. Kazakhstani "porters" received ten dollars a day.
- There I got the nickname "transparent". He was terribly thin, and his backpack carried about thirty kilograms. Such a big backpack and thin legs, - Maksut laughs. - But in the second campaign they gave me another nickname - a monster.

This year, five experienced climbers left the team at once. Denis Urubko, together with the Italian Simone Moro, went on an expedition to another eight-thousander - Annapurna. Sergei Lavrov and Alexei Raspopov, athletes of the Khan Tengri International Mountaineering Camp, have decided to take a break for now. Vasily Litvinov "tied up" with big mountaineering due to health problems and is trying to start new life at optimal heights for the body. Dmitry Chumakov also wants to find himself in ordinary life.

- Yes, five people left, - says the head coach of the national team Yervand Ilyinsky. - But the composition that I have today is no worse than the one that was. And God forbid those who left to walk the same way as before.

One of the leading roles in the updated team will belong to the conqueror of three peaks above eight thousand meters Damir Molgachev. In January, he turned 29. Now he is the oldest in the team. In her youth, she loomed before Damir brilliant career water polo player. He knows firsthand the leaders of today's Kazakhstan water polo team - champions Asian Games Ivan Zaitsev, Evgeny Zhilyaev, Alexander Shvedov. But the love for the mountains still turned out to be stronger.
- I went to Kanchenjunga in 2002 not in my best style, - Damir recalls. - Somewhere at an altitude of 7800 I saw blood in my saliva. Either pneumonia was starting, or the cold, dry air hurt his throat. On the day of the summit assault, he lagged far behind Lavrov and Raspopov. I met them already when they were going down. The guys said that it was still at least two and a half hours to the top. Frightened that I would not be in time before dark, I made a crazy forced march - I ran in 50 minutes. Then he didn't believe it. I quickly "dropped" the height, descending to the base camp, and the pain in my throat disappeared.

The biggest fears in the team are related to the weather. Lucky - no luck? Will the sky allow the mountain to ascend or will it rain tons of rain on climbers? If the weather in the Himalayas is not so hot this spring, the guys will go to Makalu along an easier route. Main principle Don't risk your life where it's not necessary. And it's better not to risk it...

The intuition of climbers is a mysterious thing. In August 2001, the national team conquered Hidden Peak in Pakistan. Usually, if there is strength left, climbers try to descend to the base camp as quickly as possible, where it is warmer and there is more oxygen in the air. This time no one wanted to go down to the first camp. And, as it turned out, not in vain. At night, empty tents fell into a ten-meter crack. They would not have died, but they would have received injuries, the climbers say.

Artem Rychkov- The youngest in the team. He is 24 years old Makalu will be the first eight-thousander in his career for Artem. It took several years for Rychkov to be included in the national team. So far, the novice has won victories and prizes in the races to the peaks of Amangeldy and Nursultan in the mountains of the Trans-Ili Alatau, Khan Tengri in the Tien Shan.
- A trip to the Himalayas can be compared to getting on Olympic Games- says Artem. - Only there you can test yourself. There is absolutely no fear. The team consists of professionals who can teach me a lot. Well, I want to be useful to the team.

Climber to Kanchenjunga Sergei Brodsky recalls returning from the first expedition in his life. Most of all in life I wanted real roasted meat and champagne. None of the guys could just look at freeze-dried products and Chinese noodles.
- I really wanted champagne. And we drank it. In the morning, as soon as we arrived in Almaty. It is in the film that aristocrats and degenerates drink champagne in the morning, - Sergey laughs. - You can drink and climbers who returned from the Himalayas.

In total, there are 14 peaks on the planet, the height of which exceeds the mark of eight thousand meters. The national team of Kazakhstan is moving towards the completion of the program "Fourteen Eight-Thousanders of the Earth", begun in the early 1990s. Makalu should be the eleventh in a row. Already this Friday, six climbers and their coach will board the plane and after a few hours they will see the Himalayas. Someone for the first time, and someone for the next fourth, fifth, tenth time. Just don't tell them "Goodbye!". Guys, take care of yourself.

Olga Koshcheeva, Almaty

The Magnificent Seven travels to the Himalayas again

On April 9, the CSKA climbing team led by head coach Yervand Ilyinsky takes off for the Himalayas. Six climbers intend to climb the fifth highest peak in the world - the eight-thousander Makalu (8475 m). The team includes Maksut Zhumaev, Vasily Pivtsov, Damir Molgachev, Sergey Brodsky, Alexander Rudakov and Artem Rychkov.
The route to Makalu was chosen by the team as difficult v along the Western Ridge. For the first time, a 3-kilometer-long rocky ridge was climbed by a French team led by Robert Parago in 1971.

To work on the route, not only high-altitude, but also good rock preparation is needed, - says the head coach of the Kazakhstan mountaineering team, Honored Coach of the USSR Yervand Ilyinsky. v We held several training camps, focusing on climbing in the technical class. I think the team is ready to climb Makalu.

This year the national team is going to the Himalayas with a new line-up. Who are new to the team?

- Alexander Rudakov and Artem Rychkov. Rychkov is the youngest athlete of the national team, he is 24 years old. I noticed it last year. Artem won the races to the peaks of Amangeldy and Nursultan several times. He took fourth place in the Khan Tengri race during the Second International Festival in 2003. Behind Alexander Rudakov climbing the northern face of the Khan-Tengri peak in 2000, and this is a serious test.

Who will work in front, doing the main work on the route?

All athletes without exception will hang the railing. That's why I made them. Of course, you have more high-altitude experience Vasily Pivtsov(6 eight-thousanders, two attempts to climb K2), Maksuta Zhumaeva(seven eight-thousanders), Damira Molgacheva(three eight-thousanders).

The success of climbing the Himalayan peaks largely depends on the weather -

I talk about this before every expedition. Last year, due to snowfall and high avalanche danger, we gave up climbing K2 in Karakoram. The success of the expedition to Makalu will also depend on weather conditions. Let's hope we get lucky!

They say that in the summer you intend to repeat the attempt to conquer K2.

I can't say anything concrete about it. Let's find the means v will be climbing.

The CSKA climbing team will return from the expedition in early June. If successful, Makalu will become the eleventh mountain in the list of eight-thousanders conquered by Kazakhstanis.
It is worth noting that if it were not for the sponsors, the expedition would hardly have taken place. The team thanks

• Kazakh mountain club
• Inter RAOEES
• central Stadium
• CSKA
• Kesertke
• Kazakhstan kagazy
• becker
• SOHO
• Rick
• Clinic of Dr. Mikhailov
• Adani
• Face.

OUR REFERENCE.
National team of Kazakhstan in mountaineering.

Supervisor Sports Club Army (CSKA) Major General Pavel Maksimovich Novikov. Head coach - Yervand Ilyinsky. Honored Coach of the USSR and the Republic of Kazakhstan, Honored Master of Sports, senior coach of CSKA MO RK in mountaineering, awarded the Orders of Honor, Friendship of Peoples, Otan. Member of the First Soviet Expedition to Everest (1982), Everest climber (1990), Aconcagua ( South America, 1998), McKinley ( North America, 2001), Vinson (Antarctica, 2002), Kilimanjaro (Africa, 1998). Vasily Pivtsov, 28 years old, student of biology faculty, super-professional in mountaineering. Confidently works on any terrain. 6 ascents of eight-thousanders: Hidden (2001), Gasherbrum-2 (2001), Kanchenjunga (2002), Shisha-Pangma (2002), Nanga Parbat (2003), Broad Peak (2003) G.). 10 years mountaineering experience. The first coach is Anatoly Zubenko. Damir Molgachev, 29 years old, coach of the young CSKA team. 3 ascents of eight-thousanders: Hidden (2001), Gasherbrum-2 (2001), Kanchenjunga (2002). He worked a significant part of the Kinshofer route on Nanga Parbat, but was forced to descend without a summit due to pneumonia. 10 years mountaineering experience. The first coach is Vadim Khaibullin. Maksut Zhumaev, 27 years old, lawyer. 7 ascents of eight-thousanders: Shisha-Pangma (2000), Hidden (2001), Gasherbrum-2 (2001), Kanchenjunga (2002), Shisha-Pangma (2002), Nanga Parbat (2003) d.), Broad Peak (2003). 7 years mountaineering experience. The first coach is Ludmila Savina. Sergei Brodsky, 26 years. 1 ascent of the eight-thousander Kanchenjunga (2002). 7 years mountaineering experience. The first coach is Lyudmila Savina. Has phenomenal physical data. Winner of the speed race to Belukha in 2002 (6 hours 06 minutes). In August 2003 on 2 International Festival Khan-Tengri during the speed run on Khan was the first to climb to the top mark of the track (7800), having completely trodden the path, along which the rest of the participants ran after him. He had every chance to become a winner, but... the finish line was cut off in the base camp, and Sergey was in no hurry to go down, believing that the finish line was cut off at the top, as usual during CSKA races. Alexander Rudakov, 29 years. Debutant of the expedition. 9 years mountaineering experience. The first coach is Vadim Khaibullin. (Photo by Vasily Litvinov, 2002) Artem Rychkov, 24 years. Debutant of the expedition. Mountaineering experience - 5 years. The first coach is Yuri Gorbunov. Photos - Russianclimb, Almaty, March 2004.

Ascents of the Kazakhstan national team within the framework of the program "Fourteen highest peaks of the planet".
Dhaulagiri, 1991 (Head - E. Ilyinsky).
Manaslu, 1995 (Head - K. Valiev).
Cho-Oyu, 1996 (Head - K. Valiev).
Everest, 1997 (Head coach - E. Ilyinsky).
Hidden, 2001 (Head - E. Ilyinsky).
Gasherbrum-2, 2001 (Head - E. Ilyinsky).
Kanchenjunga, 2002 (Head - E. Ilyinsky).
Shisha-Pangma, 2002 (Head - E. Ilyinsky).
Nangaparbat, 2003 (Head - B. Zhunusov, trainer - E. Ilyinsky).
Broad peak, 2003 (Head - B. Zhunusov, coach - E. Ilyinsky).

K2, Annapurna, Makalu, Lhotse remained unconquered.

Memoirs of participants of Kazakhstani expeditions about previous ascents of eight-thousanders:

Denis Urubko "Everest Diary"March 2002, after the first attempt to traverse Lhotse-Everest (was published on the site Mountain.cit.kz, now closed)

Denis Urubko Fragments of the diary of the second Lhotse-Everest expedition May 2001, after the expedition

Vasily Litvinov "Gasherbrum Diary""Autumn 2001

Denis Urubko "Nanga Parbat" November 2003